Many establishments, such as fast food restaurants or the like, mix food products, such as blending condiments into soft serve ice creams, smoothies or the like, directly in the cup to be used by the customer to consume the product. It is a time saving advantage if such machines are fully automated. In such situations, the cup is filled with the products to be blended and is placed in a cup holder. Upon activation of the machine, the cup holder can rotate and can move upwardly to allow an agitator to be received in the cup and mix the products contained therein. The cup holder then moves downwardly to the home position and the machine is deactivated so that the cup can be removed from the cup holder with the food product therein being mixed and ready for consumption.
In some situations a problem could arise in that the full cup would be difficult to remove from the cup holder. While the cup can be pulled loose with a sufficient amount of force, such often spills contents from the cup creating a mess in the machine which would have to be cleaned by the attendant.
The need exists, therefore, for a system of releasing a cup from the cup holder of a food mixing machine.